The Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground is located at 1554 E. Broad Street in the historic Shockoe Bottom neighborhood, which contains Richmond's original 32-block footprint laid out by William Mayo in 1737. Known only as a "Burial Ground for Negroes" on an 1809 surveyor's map of Richmond, the site was active as the city's first municipal cemetery for enslaved and free people of color from 1799 to 1816. After 1804, the site housed the city gallows, which were moved there from the city's former "usual place" of execution at Gallows Hill near Canal and 1st Street. The site is currently built over and no longer visible. Since its rediscovery in the 1990s, it was widely believed that many of the members of the slave revolt of 1800, including the principal organizer, 24-year-old enslaved blacksmith Gabriel (known at the time as "General Gabriel"), were executed at the Shockoe Bottom site. However, subsequent historical research has clarified this assumption. Gabriel was executed at Gallows Hill at Canal St. and 1st St. on October 10, 1800, before the gallows were relocated to Shockoe Bottom. His likely burial site was near the execution location on Cary Street at the former Richmond Baptist Church burying ground, as stated by Dr. John Dove in the April 29, 1871, Richmond Daily Dispatch (that site is also no longer visible).
The process of reclaiming and honoring the history of these sites began in earnest on October 10, 2004, with the placement of the "Gabriel's Execution" historic highway marker near the 15th and 16th streets overpass on E. Broad Street by the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. This was followed by the formation of the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project and committee on December 10 to further the preservation and recognition of Richmond's Black history in Shockoe Bottom. A second historic highway marker for the Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground, sponsored by DHR, was unveiled on October 10, 2024. The original "Gabriel's Execution" historic marker is currently in the process of being corrected and replaced to reflect the accurate location of Gabriel's execution. The Shockoe Bottom African Burial Ground is one of two African Burial Grounds in the city of Richmond; the other is the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground at 1305 N 5th St., which was opened as its replacement in 1816 and to which the gallows were later moved.
